Winter has been very cold here and even I've been feeling it! I can't say I want summer to come but a bit of spring weather would be nice. Actually, it is lovely outside today - 19C I believe.

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We've been enjoying warming dishes like these creamy meatballs with tagliatelle...

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I bought 3 new bare root roses to go in our front rose circle. I just love this rose...

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Oh, dear! Out the back was a very sorry sight. I basically hadn't weeded since summer...early summer!

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So a few weeks ago, I got stuck in and started weeding and pruning the carpet roses...

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That's a bit better! The roses will take off now...

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Still more weeding to be done!
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The days are getting longer. We had a few weeks where it was nearly totally dark at 4.30pm with temps dipping to 6C some days.

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Another winter warmer - Matt Preston's Apricot Chicken. Not at all like the other AC!

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Ah, the good old Census 2016 - what a flop that was! Lucky for me, I had a paper form delivered to my door so it was a matter of filling it out and popping it in the post the next day. Out of my life!

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I see they are still advertising for people to go on line and fill it out (three weeks later) - I wonder how much those extra TV ads cost us??

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Yummy apple and rhubarb crumble...

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This was one of those cold, cold 6C days. It had hailed not long before I took this pic at work...

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Ah, Gus must have been away as I made Kraft Macaroni Cheese Deluxe...

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Another one of the wines I purchased and bought home from Queensland. I very nice muskat to finish off the night...

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Eggs and bacon for breakfast at a sun drenched table...

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My favourite - roast lamb and veggies. Nearly as good as my Mum used to make...

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Here's that Soul Sister rose, sprouting out nice and healthy...

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This old tree has died as a result of corellas eating away at it. There are several trees around like this...

We have a guy coming to chop the majority of it down, leaving the trunk standing...

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And isn't this the most stunning blossom you've ever seen? I believe it is prunis japonica - I saw it in someone's yard on the way to work, stopped, reversed, got out and took a pic of it. So pretty!

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Here is the old tree being lopped off. We have heaps of firewood now, we just need to get in, cut it up small and store it so its dry. Another day...

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I bought these ice bomb makers a while back. It makes a nice sphere of ice which melts a lot slower than if you have several cubes in your glass. I got 2 glasses of brandy & coke out of this before it had melted away...

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Again, Gus must have been away because he hates Chow Mein and I love it.

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Another sunny day - bring them on!

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I saw this on Facebook - I love it!

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I bought these DVD's on the cheap and have been itching to watch them but my DVD player is on the fritz! It plays for 10 minutes then flashes to a black screen, then flickers, the counter still counts so its still playing but its just a black screen and no pressing stop, play, rewind makes a difference. I think I need a tech to come look at it and maybe tune it because its still working...sort of! The signal is breaking up, I reckon...

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I actually went and bought a portable DVD player from Target yesterday (scored on sale for $79, down from $129) but it too has died - can you believe it? I fully charged it up yesterday, watched about 1/2 an hour of a DVD, still connected to power (and was very pleased with my purchase) then stopped it to go do other stuff. When I came back, there were no lights on. No life, zip, zilch, nada! Thought the battery in the remote control might be flat so I went and bought another one today. Nope, dead as a maggot! So back to Target tomorrow - they can have that one back. So I STILL haven't been able to watch my DVD's! Waaah!

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Okay, so when I couldn't watch DVD's, I made a date, apricot & prune cake instead. Much tastier!

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Very bloody delicious and lovely with a good cuppa tea...

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Buttering it is mandatory!

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Last night, we got some of that old tree and burned it in our fireplace. Wow, it threw out some heat! Gus cooked lamb chops on the barby and we sat talking and listening to Adelaide Mix 102.3 radio...playing all the hits from the 80's and 90's. Its like our life playlist!

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I got my starter going yesterday and mixed up dough at 11pm last night (the things ya do!) so it would be ready to bake today...

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Half as a loaf, the other as focaccia...

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Very pleasing!

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This is about to become lunch with some pumpkin/veg soup I have found in the freezer. Yum!

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So that finally brings me up to date on the blog. I have hated not blogging but I tried so many times then lost the posts - so frustrating! I might blog at the end of the week now rather than daily. I have been working more of late and its going to be busier as we've lost one salesman this week and our other guy is finishing at the end of September. That leaves one new sales guy and Gus! It's going to get messy!

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I hope you are enjoying your weekend, I've had a very lazy one but still things get done - washing, cooking, tidying. I might go and get my knitting out....

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Waaaay back in July, I spent 3 nights on the Gold Coast with 3 of my sisters (my 4th sister was travelling over on the west coast and couldn't join us) for my sister Sue's 60th birthday. Sue's friend Heather also joined us and became the 5th sister!

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We arrived in Surfers Paradise at lunch time and had time to explore our accomodation - The Dorchester on the Beach. A nice, airy apartment on the 8th floor with sea views up the coast. Then it was time to go to a special High Tea for Sue's birthday. It was a surprise for her and we were frightening her with threats of a stripper being there or maybe we were taking her bungee jumping...

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But it was just a pleasant High Tea with yummy food and some bubbles.

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That night, after the High Tea had digested, I made chicken bean tacos for the girls. Just something light as it had been a big day.

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Next morning, we tackled the tallest building on the Gold Coast - the Skypoint Tower. We took the elevator up 77 floors...

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Great views of Surfers Paradise...

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We went on a lunch cruise of the waterways which was lovely.

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A great buffet lunch (which we got first dibs at as we were nearest the food!). Beautiful fresh prawns!

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Blue Sky and the sun on our backs!

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That is a guy with water jets attached to his feet, he was flying around everywhere!

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A relaxing wine before heading back to shore...

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Tuesday night, we headed out to the Outback Spectacular for High Country Legends. We all had to wear cowboy hats - which I was thrilled about - not!

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I thought it was very good value at $140 as we got a complimentary drink on arrival, our hats, a group photo, 3 course dinner (soup, delicious steak and veg then apple pie & cream) and more drinks during the show. The show itself was well put together and I loved it. Any international tourists would think its fantastic.

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On Wednesday morning, we boarded The Vino Bus for a day of wine tasting and

sight seeing up on Mount Tambourine.

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Ed was our lively, chatty bus driver and he was a fountain of knowlege when it came to wine and the wineries.

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First stop was TM Distillery where we tasted some liqueurs and purchased some too!

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This is at Witches Falls winery. Some very nice white wines here and I also bought a Chocolate Port.

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Lastly, we visited Cedar Creeek Estate Vineyard and Winery where we tasted more wine before having a delicious 2 course lunch.

Here I am showing Eddie (the only guy on the tour) how to use a selfie stick!

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I had the confit duck and noodle salad - yummy!

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Baked cheesecake ...

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or the blackest chocolate mud cake I have ever seen!

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One last pic of us girls. Again, this tour was great value at $130 - we did 3 wineries and the distillery, all tastings were paid for (I think they charge $5 head unless you buy something) and the lunch plus lots of laughs along the way. There was only one other couple on the tour plus us giggling girls (poor Eddie didn't know what hit him).

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Joolz

About Me...

Welcome to my blog. I'm a South Aussie girl on the wrong side of 50. I'm a wife to a busy man and mother of two beautiful girls. I love to cook, bake & eat yummy (usually healthy) things, travel, follow blogs of interest and listen to mostly country music. We are empty nesters and soon to be avid campers!

My Recipes

I think the link is broken to these recipes. Click on one and if it doesn't work, replace http// with www. and it should take you to the recipe post. One's that aren't linked, I'm pretty sure if you google simply joolz and the name of the recipe, you will find it that way. I just haven't got time to go through each one and change the links.... :)